White Tank Mountain Park, Phoenix

Description

The year we were in Arizona, it rained and rained that winter, resulting in glorious wildflower blooms. One happy April day we headed out to White Tank Mountain Park, which I'd heard from a local was one of the best places to see the wildflowers. Boy was he right! We did a hike past giant cactus through fields of orange poppies, purple lupine, and yellow fiddleneck. The sky was an amazing luminous blue and decorated with wild twirling white wisps. Flowering cactus bushes abounded. We approached a meadow that was so brightly golden that I could hardly contain my joy! I was so high from the incredible beauty there, that once home I collapsed on the couch with exhaustion! Why the name White Tank? Because the White Tank Mountains, the gorgeous steep mountains that border the park, have deep canyons. When it rains, floods plunge through the canyons, dropping powerfully off ledges, and carve deep pools in the white granite rocks below, the white tanks. The white tanks can hold water all year long, which made this area an important home for Native Americans.

Directions

From the 101 Westbound, exit at Bell. Continue on Bell, and then drive South on the 303. Turn West on Olive and follow it to the end, which is White Tank Mountain Park. Pay $6 per car at the pay booth. There are different parking lots where you can pull in, depending on which hike you want to do. Ask at the visitor center which hike currently has the most flowers. The best time to visit White Tank Mountain Park is in late March to early April, when the wildflowers will be in bloom. The more rain that winter, the more fantastic it will be.